Dunk dunk dunk!

My family!!

First day of school!! I hope everyone loved it (especially Phebe, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL!) You all looked super cute in your pictures-- Luke.. lookin studly my boy.

Anyway. This week was GREAT. It was a long wait up until Saturday and honestly that was the highlight of the week. We had three baptisms on Saturday all in a row! So Hector was first. He is so innocent it's so cute. He was so nervous and excited and happy it made me so happy :) He was baptized by a man in the ward that is named Hector as well.. And they were from the same place in Mexico so that was kinda cool. After he got baptized, he just kept saying he was tingly. It was cool to see the Spirit immediately enter into his life. Dakota gave a bomb talk on the Holy Ghost.. That kid is gonna be killer as a missionary. He has to wait a year though.. bummer.

Shaylee and Skylar's baptism...... TEAR JERKER.

I told myself all day long that I wasn't going to cry.. I held myself together for Hector's but then literally as Dakota and Skylar entered into the water, I lost it. The Spirit came over me so strong. It was such a good feeling to know that I was literally a tool in the Lord's hands with helping them come closer to Christ. I was bawling. When Shaylee got baptized, we went in the dressing room with her after since her mom didn't come... (LAME) But she was so cute and so happy. Dakota also was able to bless the Sacrament for the first time this week! Super cool. AHHH I just love them so much :) :)

Oh yeah.. Sister Nelson and I had to sing at their baptism.. HAHA it was alright, we were sups nervy though. Everyone said we did good and now they want us to sing in Sacrament? We're thinking they should probably reconsider that though haha.

Sunday was even better with them all being confirmed. Gosh such a great week :)

OKAY. I got my tube package-- LOVED it. I also got a letter from dad's side of the family that was kinda the same thing! Everyone just wrote cute little notes to me. That means so much! Gosh I felt so loved! You guys are all awesome. I'm super lucky to have such a great family!

Oh ps.. Sandy Williams asked if I knew an Elder Knudsen because he was good friends with Cody.. Yeah he's actually my zone leader right now haha I told him allll about it and he was really excited that I'm related to Cody.

OH! Another miracle/ major blessing.. We have been kinda stressed out because all of our investigators just got baptized so now we have no one to teach except Jerry, who is hopefully getting baptized this week :) but someone in the ward came up and said that his son's friend wants to take lessons from us! So BOOM another investigator.

 I sure don't understand what we are doing right, seems like we are very disobedient for how many blessings we constantly receive. We try really hard to be obedient but it's soooo hard sometimes.

There is a missionary that was serving is the Ogden mission that just got home last week! He said he served in Kaysville but never West Kaysville.. I didn't know what our stake was called.... kinda embarrassing. But his name is Elder Kevin Lew. Maybe Brenda knew him? Do you guys even have missionaries in the ward right now?

Wellllll things are super great right now. I can't believe we are already on week 5 out of 6 from this transfer! Totes cray, but I love it. I don't want to leave Eastvale so hopefully I don't get transferred. I am so happy right now and I love being able to see people's lives change from this gospel. I know none of this is me and that it is all the Lord's work. I love my companions.. Sister Nelson is a bestie for life. I love her so so much. Sister Pyper is so interesting to me. She has worn my clothes everyday for the last... two weeks? So that's cool haha. That's my way of serving her though. She loves my clothes.

I love love love being a missionary. I love this gospel and I love getting so close to my Savior. I taught a lesson on Sunday about the Priesthood, and I was bearing my testimony of it and got emotional because it hit my how true everything is. I'm so grateful I was brought up in the church and that I have been able to witness firsthand how powerful the Priesthood is. I know that this is the true church.. There is no doubt in my mind!

I love you all so much!

Hope you have a great first week of school little kiddies! (so glad I don't have to do that again!)

Love ya bunches.

Sister Anderson :)

Patience child …

Hi Family :)

Okay first... NO letters this week!? What's up with that? I died a little inside every time we checked the mail and I had no letters :( I guess you all forgot about me or something........

Anyway..... Guess what? We are having THREE baptisms on Saturday! I know, shocking right? Big miracles keep happening.

So Hector is awesome and agreed to baptism. He is in his early 40's and is so innocent and sweet. He is a very prepared investigator and I am so lucky to have been able to teach him!

Also.... SKYLAR AND SHAYLEE SAID YES! It's like we are in a relationship with them and I just got a new boyfriend or something haha. That's how happy I was! It was pretty interesting.. We were having our companionship inventory.. and Sister Nelson and I were... kind of arguing about things. We both kinda got frustrated with each other and had to talk it out. I'll be honest, I was a mess. I was basically bawling my eyes out. Sister Pyper could tell we were both frustrated and she said a prayer that we would be able to work things out and that we would get some help.. We all lost it during that prayer. BUT literally.. one minute later Shaylee texted us and said she wanted to be baptized on the 24th! More tears, yes. That whole day I was a mess. Immediate answer to our prayers.

The very next day, we had a lesson with the Edwards. As we were riding over there, I asked what we were even teaching them. We hadn't had time that week to plan a lesson so we really went in there blind. We were just going to teach Shaylee about baptism. Well... The Lord thought differently.... The whole lesson was focused on Skylar. Somehow it got transferred over to him and we told him it was the Spirit that was speaking through us. Shaylee told us that we were like her family, her big sisters, and again I started crying. Mostly because I miss you all and I love her so much. She is the sweetest girl and that just meant so much to me.. Anyway. I was very emotional the whole lesson. I was talking to Skylar, telling him why I was so emotional. I told him that I could feel the love that the Savior has for him and that He has so many things He wants to bless him with but He can't since he hasn't been baptized yet. He told us that he knew that his mom would love him either way and that he would be blessed for following Christ. Again, this was all the Spirit talking.. I told him that his sister is stepping up and setting that example by being baptized.. So, I looked at him straight in the eyes, and said "Skylar, as a representative of Jesus Christ, I'm asking you to be baptized with your sister on the 24th." He paused, took a deep breath, and said "yes. I will." More tears :)

I have been so blessed to teach this incredible family. I know that they were prepared for me and that we were able to teach them because they had been so prepared. I am so heartbroken for them because their mom is so against it, but I'm so proud of them for doing what they know is right. Please pray for them that they can stay strong this week against their mom and the adversary.

With Jerry, he was out of town this week so we didn't get to see him. We are going over tonight and having someone give him a blessing because he is going to have a lot of surgery's coming up. We are hoping we can get him baptized before the end of the month, and before he has his surgery.

We had interviews with the President this week which was really nice. He is a very inspired man and gave me some pretty good advice. This week, both my companions told me that I need to be more patient.. nothing new... But I have really been praying for more patience. I decided to fast on Sunday for it as well. It was pretty cool because in Sacrament meeting, all the talks were about prayer and about patience. The speaker said "If we pray for more patience, the Lord wont just give us more patience. If we pray for more patience, the Lord with most likely give us a trial that will help us eventually have more patience." (Hence, everything that happened this week) It was cool to get a direct answer like that. I know that the Lord is giving me hard things to go through to gain more patience. I know I didn't get any letters this week cause I needed to exercise my patience :)

We also went on exchanges this week with the Sister Training Leaders. That was nice to get a new insight on things and learn how to do different things.

I'm glad that I have been able to exercise my patience this week, but please pray for me. I am honestly struggling. This week I had a hard time being motivated, despite all the good things that happened. I don't know what was wrong this week but I need some motivation. I know I will be able to get through this but this transfer has been a lot different than last...

I'm glad that I get to constantly grow closer to my Savior. I'm glad He trusts me enough to do His work and to bring His children back to Him. It's so rewarding when someone realizes that what we are teaching is true, and that they need this in their life. I love helping people in this way, and we keep running into people that tell us we are angels and that we are doing so much good in the world. It always feels good to hear that from complete strangers!

I love you all so much. I'm so grateful our family is eternal and that I can spend forever with my best friends :) Have fun this week and hopefully you haven't forgotten about me ;)

Peace and blessin's

Sister Anderson :)

nice shoe tan line

we were really sweaty one day

I ate a chicken foot this week … perks of having Chinese people in your ward.

Food Poisoning... What?

Hi my little loves :)

 

This week was somewhat better than last... but somewhat worse.. yay :)

 

I have realized that Heavenly Father is definitely testing my patience very strongly... And it is wearing very thin! I guess that is good for me.. But it is very frustrating. I didn't realize how different people can be and how hard it is to live with someone like that :) I am doing all I can to love my new companion but there are many times throughout the week that I wish it was just me and Sister Nelson. If I didn't have her I honestly do now know what I would do!

 

We were able to see a bunch of miracles this week though. I don't think I told you about Hector last week.. So we met Hector like 4 weeks ago in the park. He told us he wanted to be more spiritual and be happy like the brothers he sees on the street (the elders). So he is basically a golden investigator. Only problem is that he maybe lives in Ontario? Haha which is not even in our mission! He also works all day everyday (except forSaturday and Sunday conveniently..). So anyway he came to our scripture class again on Saturday and we read from the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson we asked him if he wanted to be baptized next week and he was very apprehensive. We read him the baptism questions and assured him that he is so ready and that he knows everything he needs to know and he committed to the 24th of August! So we are praying that goes through!

 

We also got a call from the Bishop on Thursday about this older guy that had just moved here from Utah named Jerry. He has taken 4 lessons from the missionaries and also wants to be baptized! He is awesome and so so nice. When we had our first visit with him, he told us how great it is that we are out doing what we do. He said he can see Christ beaming with joy, just looking down at us and smiling for how much we are pleasing Him. He was so sincere, it was like it wasn't him talking. It made me pretty emotional.. I needed that right at that time and I have obviously never had a non member tell me anything like that! It was really really special.

 

Okay... So Friday night we were eating at a members house... The food was not that good.. And we all ended up getting food poisoning! Yay... We seriously had to cancel our appointments after dinner because it hit us that fast. We were all so sick! We went home and just layed down, Sister Pyper apparently threw up in the middle of the night.. We woke up the next morning and still all felt sick but still went out. We just went to the bathroom multiple times throughout the week.. hahaha. It is finally all out of our systems but now we are terrified to go back to that house!

 

We had another miracle of 6 investigators at church! What the?! Right? So Hector came (loved it), Jerry came, Marna (I haven't said anything about her because she comes to church every week but is not progressing. She's from Jamaica and doesn't understand what we tell her.. She has been getting the lessons for like 5 months now and "still hasn't gotten an answer". Very frustrating) and her granddaughter, and two teenagers named Josh and Chelsea (Part member family that we consistently work with. Both Josh and Chelsea are basically going to church cause their mom is making them, but they are progressing!) So that was all very exciting!

 

Oh! Sister Nelson was super lazy one night and told me if I got her ready for bed she would buy me lunch... Obviously I can't pass that up! So she literally laid on the ground while I brushed her teeth and washed her face hahaha. She now owes me lunch for the next month :) BEST BET EVER.

 

Well... This week was a test of patience for everyone I think. It's been pretty rough but I am doing my best. I am grateful for all the good things that have happened and I am trying not to focus on the negative! I'm sad I couldn't be with you guys this August, it's always a fun month but we'll be together again soon! I am so grateful to be on a mission and so thankful for everything I have been learning! Yesterday in Sacrament meeting I was reading in Helaman 5 and I got some good things out of it.. Then later after church, I read it again and got something TOTALLY different from it. That just goes to show how incredible the Book of Mormon is. I know that we need to be reading it everyday because you obviously get something different from it even if you have read it 30 times. I love that little book so much. It has brought me such comfort lately and I'm so glad I have the chance to sit and read it every day! Gosh this gospel is so great. I think the church is true or something? :)

 

Anyway.. I love you all so much! I have loved all the letters lately, keep em comin :) I'm so glad I have such a strong supportive family that loves me :) It helps me so much to know that. Thanks for everything you all do! Stay safe and enjoy the last few weeks of summer suckers! That's one major bonus of being on a mission.. No school! Hahaha love you all :)

 

Love,

 

Sister McCall Anderson :)

2 Months!

My little loves :)

Sup everybody! I miss you all so stinkin much! This week was verrrry interesting!

So we have a new companion.. Her name is Sister Pyper. She is 19 and from Texas and has a VERY strong Texas accent and says ma'am to everything. It has definitely taken some getting used to! I can tell this transfer will be a definite test of my patience FOR SURE. I think I got too comfortable with my last companionship so this one will be a slap in the face and I am about to be humbled big time! We'll just leave it at that :)

This week we had a zone meeting to set a zone focus. Our zone leaders told us we need to be inviting everyone we talk to to baptism. SO we are literally talking to everyone we pass and literally like stopping people on the street and asking them if they want to be baptized! Awkward? YES. But it has gotten easier and we have actually had 3 people say yes! It's been pretty cool. We ran into a man named Hector about 3 weeks ago and we invited him to our scripture class (we have a scripture study class every Saturday for investigators, hardly anyone shows up but it's fine!) and he FINALLY came this week! He was the only one that came and we were able to teach him the first discussion and it was SO spiritual. It was one of the best lessons we have taught. I memorized Joseph Smith's first vision and I was able to recite it in the lesson and I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time. It was incredible. I love being able to have the ability to bring the spirit in that strongly and help others feel it too. Hector was pretty emotional and it was a really neat experience. He committed to coming to church the next day and everything so we were really excited! But we got our hopes up and he didn't come to church. We have no idea why, we literally haven't heard from him since :( super sad, right?

Okay SCARIEST THING EVER. We had a lesson to go to so we took Dakota with us to be a team up and cause he has the Priesthood now (Woot woot!) Anyway, our lesson forgot so we were just walking around getting OYMs and we walked past a house and saw this man grab a woman BY HER NECK and push her into the house. There was another girl outside that started screaming and yelling "Help! Call 911! He's saying he's going to kill my mom!" So we of course started freaking out and called the cops. Then they were yelling for us to come in and help so Dakota ran in because we couldn't... and just as he went in, the man came out and drove away super fast. Apparently, he and his wife just got a divorce and she got a restraining order against him so he was mad and wanted to kill her! When the cops came, he was talking to us, getting our info and the man came back and the cop arrested him right then and there. SUPER FREAKY. So he is in jail now because since he had the restraining order and he touched her that was a big no no. I'm just glad Dakota was there so we had Priesthood there. Everything is fine now, it was just real scary!

I have some real nice farmers tan lines on my arms and on my feet from my shoes! If I remember I'll take a picture next week :) PS I have been out 2 months today! Crazy right? Does it seem like I have been gone that long? For me it seems longer!

I'm so glad I get to be a part of this AMAZING work. I know that I am a tool in the Lord's hand and that He is moving His work along very quickly! I'm so lucky to know that He trusts me enough to be one of His servants. My testimony has been strengthened so much in the 2 months I have been here, I can't wait to see what it will be like by the end of my mission! I love the Lord and I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers, letters, love and support. I know that my absence will only make us all stronger and closer together!

Love you all long time :)

Sister Anderson :)